People before platforms: why Sport England suspended its X account by Chris Boardman.

No matter where you come from, what you earn or who you are, sport should always be a place where everyone feels safe and welcome.

Those are values worth standing up for. When a space undermines that, walking away is not weakness - it is a responsibility. People must always come before platforms.

Community sport is about far more than getting people moving. It’s one of the last places where people from different backgrounds come together, feel they belong, and build trust. In a polarised world, that matters more than ever.

At Sport England, our job is to protect and grow that ecosystem – because it makes communities healthier, stronger and more resilient, as well as giving division less room to take hold.

Last week, we made our decision to suspend our account on X. The vast majority of people we’ve heard from – partners, staff and the public – have supported that decision. Some haven’t. As Chair of a public body that distributes significant public funding, I wanted to explain our reasoning in a bit more detail.

This decision was not taken lightly. It rests on two specific considerations.

First, X increasingly promotes and monetises an environment that is hostile to women and girls.

We exist to support everyone to be physically active, grounded in equality, dignity and respect. Recent developments on X – including some abhorrent outputs associated with Grok – have contributed to the amplification of and, worse, normalisation of misogynistic content. That runs directly counter to what we stand for.

Online misogyny is not abstract. Fear of judgment and abuse is one of the biggest barriers stopping women and girls from being active. Campaigns like This Girl Can (TGC), alongside TGC advocacy such as Let’s Lift the Curfew and work with partners to improve safety in the spaces that women get active, exist precisely because these barriers are real. Maintaining a presence on a platform that undermines that work does not sit comfortably with our responsibilities.

We welcome the Government’s commitment yesterday to bring forward provisions in the Data (Use and Access) Act that criminalise the creation of non-consensual intimate images, as well as the commitment to ensuring regulation keeps pace with generative AI and the challenges it brings. We support Ofcom in using its new powers to make digital spaces safer; last summer, we urged action on the horrific sexist and racist abuse being levelled at our Lionesses. Alongside these actions, we have to make choices about where we show up as an organisation and where we don’t.

Second, X has become a less effective way for us to do our job. The tone of conversation has grown increasingly divisive and reductive. This has made meaningful, constructive engagement harder, not easier. At the same time, other platforms allow us to communicate our work more clearly, engage more thoughtfully, and use our limited time and resources to greater effect.

We recognise that some people and organisations believe staying in difficult spaces and challenging harmful narratives from within is the right approach. We respect that view. Reasonable people can disagree.

For Sport England, however, stepping away from X is the right decision. It aligns with our values, supports our commitment to women and girls, and allows us to focus our efforts where they can have the greatest positive impact.

Public bodies and regulators can only go so far. Platforms themselves have to act. I find it sad that we have to tell them that. Tech companies – particularly X – must take greater responsibility for the environments they create and the content they amplify.

We owe it to women and girls, and to the communities we serve, to be clear about where we stand — and just as clear about where we do not.